When employers spend more on health insurance, there is less money available for wages. Rising premiums are, in effect, a hidden pay cut for working families. This sad story — stagnant or reduced wages due to rising health care costs — has been documented by economists at the UC Berkeley Labor Center and the Federal Reserve.

While bronze-level plans may offer people some peace of mind, the high deductibles and copays tend to discourage people from seeking care, said Miranda Dietz, director of the Health Care Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

This year, over two dozen local jurisdictions have increased local minimum wages. West Hollywood will have a $20.25 minimum wage starting in January — the highest of any California city, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

In a 2023 study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center, UC Irvine professor Virginia Parks helped survey those who had been laid off by the Marathon oil refinery in Contra Costa County in 2020. She found that roughly a quarter were unemployed or no longer looking for work over a year after losing their jobs.

A group that represents Uber and Lyft has said drivers in California earn an average of $37 per “active” hour, while research from the UC Berkeley Labor Center found that the average pay for drivers, including tips and taking their entire working shifts and expenses into account, was $9.09 per hour.

“Based on the experience of other states, even if you spend a ton of energy on outreach, a lot of people just don’t realize what they have to do,” said Nari Rhee.

Nationally, the bill guts Medicaid spending by $700 billion, which could lead to California losing as much as $20 billion a year and 217,000 jobs, according to an April analysis by the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

The companies have said the law has increased gig workers’ pay to an average $34.46 an “active hour” in California, but research last year from the UC Berkeley Labor Center, which took into account drivers’ expenses over their entire shift, found that the average pay for drivers, with tips, was $9.09, and for delivery workers was $13.62.

More than 200 trade union members and technologists gathered in Sacramento this week at a first-of-its-kind conference to discuss how AI and other tech threatens workers and to strategize for upcoming fights and possible strikes.

Approximately 426,000 workers are expected to benefit from the law, according to estimates from the UC Berkeley Labor Center. This includes medical assistants, front office staff, medical billing personnel, patient techs, janitors, food service workers, among others.

Gig companies have said that, due in part to the initiative’s earnings guarantee, workers now make more than $30 an hour. But a May study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center found that, for California ride-hailing drivers, average earnings after expenses, not including tips, is about $7.12 an hour, and for delivery workers, $5.93. With tips, drivers’ average hourly earnings are $9.09 an hour, and $13.62 for delivery workers, the study found.

Here’s a look at how California made almost everyone eligible for health insurance and what’s happening to extend coverage to the rest.

The carpenters have countered that the Terner Center estimates are inflated, that residential construction workers are disproportionately reliant on public safety programs and that taxpayer funding should be used not solely as a means to build more housing, but also to support and expand the labor force needed to build it.

Long-haul truckers spend weeks on the road, away from friends and family, and in some cases, they end up earning less than minimum wage, according to a 2023 report from the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

The skyrocketing cost of living has prompted local officials in more than two dozen cities to enact their own, faster-growing minimum wages since 2016. Now, 40 cities and counties have a higher minimum wage than the state.

Labor unions usually push for wage hikes on behalf of their members. In California, only about 18% of workers are covered by a union contract. The health care minimum wage, Lucia said, helps level the field for health workers who do not participate or benefit from labor negotiations.

“Even though there’s been some wage gains at the bottom, the reality is that low-wage workers are still not earning a living wage,” said Lopezlira.

Approximately 426,000 workers are expected to benefit from the law, according to the latest estimates from the UC Berkeley Labor Center. This includes medical assistants, front office staff, medical billing personnel, patient techs, janitors, food service workers, among others.

A study released by the UC Berkeley Labor Center this week found that after expenses are taken into account and not including tips, average earnings for ride-hailing drivers in the state work out to $7.12 an hour, while for delivery workers that number is $5.93.

The UC Berkeley Labor Center estimates the cost to the state to be much lower. Total health spending in California would increase by about $2.7 billion because of the law, but the state would be responsible only for a fraction of that, according to the Labor Center’s analysis.

Ken Jacobs said establishing a union among Kaiser residents could have far-reaching impacts given the size of the health care behemoth, which is often looked at as a leader for worker pay and benefits. “It’s a big deal to take on something the size of Kaiser,” Jacobs said.

California is the first and only place where employees are getting critical info about their data, UC Berkeley Labor Center Director Annette Bernhardt told the board during public comment ahead of the vote, and recent amendments threaten to deprive workers of agency over algorithmic tools.

Ken Jacobs and others discuss the new California Fast Food Workers Union, a “minority union” of SEIU that cannot yet collectively bargain but that will have unique opportunities to implement change through the California fast-food council.

A recently published study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center found that costs like deductibles are becoming more common. In 2002, 33% of private sector workers enrolled in coverage through their job had a deductible. By 2022, 77% of workers did.

Sara Hinkley said that changing degree requirements is “one small part” of the solution to the civil service vacancies problem in California.